Robots help against rising labor costs

Zhejiang province is to invest 500 billion yuan ($82 billion) over the next five years to encourage manufacturers to adopt more robots to overcome the short supply↲ and high cost of labor.

The program is underway↲ and will help at least 5,000 companies a year, a source with the investment division of the Zhejiang Economic and Information Commission told China Daily, without giving details.

Replacing humans with robots is the most effective way to tackle↲ the labor shortage and rising labor costs, the commission said.

From 2005 to 2012, average labor costs in Zhejiang, a hub↲ for private manufacturing enterprises, almost tripled from 14,847 yuan to 41,370 yuan a year, with an annual increase of nearly 16 percent.

In a survey•conducted by↲ the commission in May, 75 percent of respondents said rising costs were the main reason for switching to↲ robots.